Naomi Reid - Portfolio Book

NAOMI REID.

Who Am I? What sort of person am I supposed to be?

Am I supposed to be like mother or father?

What sort of a

Black Or White?

Naomi Reid? This is the question I ask myself.

Who is Naomi Reid as an artist? My creative journey is an exploration into my identity as a young Do I have to British Duel-Heritage fit in the box? woman. Third generation immigrant, the daughter of a British solider (and also creative). Or am I a woman first? Eldest daughter of a single mother. My work is exploring Intersectional feminism, so that I can find a place in this world.

Mother or Father? Black or White? British or Caribbean? Educator or Artist?

Educator or Artist?

artist of am I?

Mother, Eat me and give birth to me again This time around I’ll make you proud.

Craft

Weaving

Sewing

Quilting Knitting

A mothers craft is simply just what she does. Learnt from her mother, and their mother, and the mother before that. A generation of mothers passing down knowledge through the craft she is expected to do. I had to learn the stories that were kept within the seams. The songs harmonized through the weaving. The wisdom that only comes from knitting.

To understand my mothers sorrow I learnt to quilt from my grandmother. Each stitch brought us together and revealed a piece of her. Simply, a woman’s hobby is so much more.

The greatest education ever received guided by an worn down hands.

“ ...the whores were the strongest social group in the whole country” Mother is also whore. When you are born you are a piece of meat for the male pleasure, and then you become mother. Ugly and old. If you continue to live a sex positive life you are shunned because you are a mother. However, god forbid your children become hungry. “Poverty has always been connected to sex work, or rather sex work has always been connected to poverty” Cari Mitchell ‘the Impact Of Austerity’. Don’t have children if you’re poor, and don’t do whatever you need to do to survive. Shame on you.

Madonna’s Whore

Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree

Creative

Second generation Caribbean, British solider, Funk and soul DJ, Documentary producer, and Father. Most importantly a creative.

Untold Stories I must be like you. Surrounded by love and creativity, I need to be like you. So, I’m exploring the Documentary culture of a windrush generation.

Your story is told through club flyers, retro magazines, and print outs from the internet. I must archive this and connect the dots.

Father

Naomi Omi Lets be honest will we ever know who we are? I dont know if that is something I can answer in a short description on a website. My work is exploring this question constantly and hopefully will tell the life story of Naomi Reid. Print maker, Textile Artist, Archivist, Short Film Director, Photographer, Sculpture, and Illustrator. Or simply just Omi. I’m not black or white so I won’t be put in a box. I think that’s fair :)